“It rained last night.” Diana studied the wet street. “What time did it start?”
“Around midnight.”
“That must have been why Jared ended up at the bordello. When Polly tossed him out on his ear, he wouldn’t have been able to walk far enough to find a hack without getting soaked.”
She turned to him. “We have to find out what he was doing at the Swan’s Nest.”
“Wedon’t.”
If she thought he’d allow her involvement to go any further, she was deluding herself. Not after what she’d concealed, for God only knew how long. She had to be itching for retribution, and he needed to squelch whatever she was scheming at.
“Well, we can’t stay here. And before you say it, we’re not going back,” Diana insisted. “Not until we find out who drugged Jared.”
“He could have taken the opium himself. It wouldn’t have been the first time.”
“It still doesn’t explain what he was doing at the pub. Why would he go to the Swan’s Nest before he brought the papers to Polly? What was so important he had to stop there before delivering them to her?”
Ian shook his head. Gangs and other less than legal entities conducted business at the Swan’s Nest. He’d gone there himself when he needed an off-the-books contract. And as the date of the wedding and his access to the emeralds had drawn closer, he’d played cards there to sniff around for any inquiries about who was searching for the gems. So he’d have a full picture of who might chase after him once he had the necklace.
It was possible Jared had followed Ian one night. And probable his brother was stupid enough to have gambled with unsavory company and lost a prize he wasn’t in a position to stake.
“You need to leave this to me now.” There was nothing soft about his voice.
“Nonsense. You can’t go in there alone.Thatis unwise.” She smoothed a hand over her hair. “We both know I can defend myself. I can help.”
“You’ve done enough.”
An alluring flush rose over her cheeks. “You’re angry I didn’t tell you. About Johnny.”
“We’re not discussing it. Not here. Not now.” Not ever, if he had his way.
“I thought you knew.”
“And you believed I intentionally kept it from you?” They hadn’t spoken openly with each other in eight years, but she must have thought he was a veritable devil if she believed he’d let her marry Jared, knowing his brother already had a son with another woman.
“You didn’t tell me about Polly,” she argued.
“I thought you knew.”
She made an exasperated noise in the back of her throat, and with her pink cheeks and her uneven breaths and the way her attention fixed on him, he had to strangle the umbrella to resist touching her.
Diana registered the motion.
She took a step closer to him.
When her eyes dropped to his mouth, a swell of lust rose over him like a tidal wave.
“You’re genuinely furious at me,” she murmured. “Is it because I didn’t tell you about Johnny? Or do you think, after all this, that I drugged Jared myself?”
She leaned perilously close to him. The scent of her violet perfume set his skin on fire and made his muscles shake. He squeezed his eyes shut and searched for the strength to resist her.
Dampness kissed his cheek before a frigid gust of wind revived him like a cold bucket of water.
When he blinked his eyes open, he was alone.
In the distance, Diana scurried down the street under the shelter of his umbrella.
Chapter Six